From biotech and consulting to building at Bayer

Alex used to work in biotech and consulting. Then 42 Berlin happened.

Since February 2026 he has been a software engineer at Bayer in Berlin, in a role whose name needs explaining: forward deployed engineer.

what forward deployed means.

Most software engineers build one product for many customers. A forward deployed engineer does the reverse: many solutions for one customer, built next to the people who will use them. Palantir invented the role in the early 2010s. Unlike a consultant, the engineer writes and ships the code. At Bayer, Alex's customers are Bayer's own business units and clinical teams.

what the job involves.

He works on site with healthcare professionals, finds where their work gets stuck, and quickly builds and ships digital tools that smooth out clinical workflows. He owns each project from start to finish, from scoping it with business leads to deploying a working web application. Then he demos it live to leadership, so good ideas get backed.

plugs for ai.

Much of it is generative AI. Alex builds secure data pipelines and MCP servers. MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard Anthropic released in November 2024. Its documentation compares it to a USB-C port for AI: one standard plug that lets an AI model read from, and act in, a company's systems. Alex builds those plugs between AI models and Bayer's older internal infrastructure.

He also sets up AI coding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor and Cline, writing the instructions, skill libraries and rules that keep them accurate and inside the guardrails. With them he can test whether an idea works and deliver a working prototype in a fraction of the usual time.

a defining moment.

“Joining 42 Berlin was a defining moment for me,” he says. “The learning experience is incredibly immersive. This drive gave me a versatile foundation to take my coding career in any direction. But what truly stands out is the community: an exceptional network of peers and friends I know I can rely on.”

complexity into clarity.

Bayer is one of 42 Berlin's partners. It was there with Volkswagen, CARIAD, Capgemini, Microsoft, SAP and T-Systems when the campus opened. Now Alex does exactly what 42 trained him to do: turn complexity into clarity.